It’s a 7 am start today as we have an early morning activity

Dave had a brief encounter with a flying cockroach-thing which he “dealt with” last night…

However, we find it’s not there when we check in the morning and Dave apparently heard a lot of nibbling last night – it seems we had a mouse-y roommate!

We have a quick hotel coffee before getting our bits packed up into the car and we drive down the road to Mount Cook Airport

As we check in for the activity, we’re warned that there’s actually a chance we can’t do it because of the weather ????

The 40 minutes as we wait for the official time is a little worrying but we are given the go ahead, which is super news!

We’re taken across the tarmac, belted in, given ear protection and taken up – we’ve got a 15-minute flight in a helicopter to go through the valley and land on the Tasman Glacier

There are several other glaciers that join on to the Tasman Glacier which is 23 kilometres long and has been recorded to lose about 100 metres year-on-year

The pilot lands and we’re allowed to mill about on the snow for about 15 minutes

Once loaded back in, we go a slightly different route back to get a glimpse of the plateau and through a V in the peaks

We’re also taken close into the bridge on the road towards the Tasman Glacier, which we drove over yesterday, before being brought back into the airport

As we’ve not had any breakfast yet, we get on the road quickly and have a stop at The Musterers Hut Cafe for some coffees as well as toasties and heated wraps

We refuel and get on the road to Arrowtown

Here, we have a meander down the streets before settling on some lunch at Provisions of Arrowtown

It’s not far to our destination for the day: Queenstown – we get straight to mi-pad Queenstown to check in, have a brief refresh and head out around the waterfront

On the corner is Public Kitchen and Bar where we soak up the sun and vibe with a couple drinks

Before it gets dark, we head to Blu Kanu which we’ve booked for dinner

There are more than a few smashing events – our table even breaks a glass!

Pretty tired, we get back to the hotel for a couple drinks on the rooftop area and then get some rest

Happy Valentine’s, by the way! ❤️